West Side growth spurs Jewel site
Full-size grocery slated for Fulton River District
Jewel Food Stores is seeking to profit from the residential boom on Chicago's Near West Side — and also grab business from rival Dominick's Finer Foods LLC — by opening a full-size grocery in the Fulton River District.
Minneapolis-based SuperValu Inc., which owns Jewel, plans to break ground this spring on a 2.6-acre site at the southwest corner of Kinzie Street and Desplaines Avenue, part of a broader rollout of Jewels in the area (Crain's, Oct. 2).
The 65,000-square-foot store, slated to open in spring 2008, is expected to draw customers not only from the Fulton River District but River West and the West Loop.
The Fulton River neighborhood has seen more than 1,500 townhouse, condominium and rental units built in the past five years. And nearly 3,000 more units are under construction or planned in the area, including a six-building, 2,400-unit development by Fifield Cos., and three buildings with a total of 210 units by RDM Development & Investment LLC.
'WAITING A LONG TIME'
A full-size Jewel/Osco can expect to draw customers from the entire West Loop, says James Kutill, a vice-president with Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago real estate consultancy. The West Loop, bounded by the Chicago River on the east, the Kennedy Expressway west, Roosevelt Road south and Ohio Street north, has added 11,500 residential units over the past 15 years, with potential for 3,600 more in the next two years, he says.
"The numbers suggest the area would support a full-size grocery store," he says.
The two closest full-size groceries, owned by Dominick's, are less than a mile away each, one at Madison Avenue and Halsted Street in the West Loop and the other at Grand Avenue and Columbus Drive in Streeterville. "Those would be the closest competitors. But I think this will affect any grocery store within a 15-minute drive," Mr. Kutill says.
Nearby residents say a local grocery is long overdue. "We've been waiting a long time. The area is growing rapidly and we need retail," says Linda Ewing, president of the Fulton River District Assn., a local civic group. "We want to develop it into a walking neighborhood."
The store will have two levels: The main floor will be 45,500 square feet and built to meet the rising grade of Desplaines. A lower level will house loading docks, offices, storage and a food-preparation area.
CHALLENGING SITE
SuperValu also is planning to create a walkway connecting the store to one of the RDM condo buildings nearby. The walkway could house up to 9,000 square feet of additional retail, says Joseph McKeska, vice-president of store development for SuperValu.
The exterior of the Jewel/Osco will be finished in limestone, and there will be an outdoor deck with seating overlooking a planned city park. The building also will have an environmentally friendly "green roof" filled with foliage.
Mr. McKeska acknowledges that the $19-million project is more challenging than construction of most of the area's 175 Jewel/Osco stores.
The location is about one-fourth the size of the typical eight-to-10-acre development site, and the property was more expensive, he says. Additionally, 90-foot-long caissons will have to be driven into the ground to elevate the store and a parking deck 24 feet above grade level. The additional height leaves room for a proposed high-speed rail line that may someday connect the Loop to O'Hare International Airport. Chicago, which owns the right-of-way for the rail line, created a $4-million tax-increment financing district to compensate Jewel/Osco for the additional construction expense.
"We've had to be more creative with this project than our typical suburban store," Mr. McKeska says.
A rendering shows what the River West Jewel will look like.